This was a quick read. Pretty interesting if you're into this sort of thing but not particularly memorable.

This is perhaps one of the hardest books I have ever had to review, not because it was challenging in any way, or a hard read, but because the very things that make it good are also the very things with which, upon pausing, one cannot help but find fault with.

The book sets out to determine whether Homo Sapiens is a product of intelligent design. The title gives the conclusion. At the outset, I was concerned that analysis might be driven from and perpetuate the creationist/evolutionist arguments but I was quickly dispelled of that feeling by the lack of depth and intelligent argument presented. Rather than an intellectual debate what we have in this book is a rather juvenile, yet, at times, incredibly funny and irreverent look at the human body with all its faults. In places, the critique is contrived and clearly written for effect, but nonetheless it does cause one to think about how easy it would be to make improvements were we truly "designed".

But herein lies the rub. Who is this book aimed at? Without acknowledging how evolution works (and its lack of "purpose") this text is relegated to the comedy shelf. Maybe that was the authors' intention, we do not know.

Easy to read, ideally suited to the bathroom shelf, but ultimately a book that I'd struggle to find the audience for.

With thanks to the authors, publishers and NetGalley for the advance copy for review.

This is book was terribly disappointing from a scientist's perspective. The author's outline and choice of topics is relevant to highlight the lack of "perfection" in a human body plan. However, it is approached with the largest fallacy that exists about evolution: that evolution has a goal. Evolution just selects organisms that fit best into the current environment that may be a better trait or a worse trait for future generations. I dislike seeing myths perpetuate.

My full review appears on Weekend Notes. Thank you so much to the publishers for sharing this title. It literally made me laugh out loud several times.

The book sounded interesting, but I have to say I was a bit dissapointed. Though some of the comments and opinions were funny, it sometimes sounded a bit forced. Good for a bit of a laugh, but I would not really recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book

Not Very Intelligent Design – Neel Ingman

Summary:
A light-hearted, irreverent look at the human body, as being judged on functional, aesthetic and general fitness-for-purpose criteria.

Main Characters:
Homo Sapiens: The body is dissected piece by piece, and the various pros and cons are given.

Plot:
The book is very easy to navigate. The body parts are first, and broken into general sections (top, middle, bottom). It is written with the teen market in mind, full as it is with sneery asides, lots of scatological humour, and the general perception that anyone over 25 is practically at death’s door, and their opinions are olde-worlde.

The book begins with the notion of imagination, then quickly moves into the stand-off between science and theology. Without taking (overtly) a side, the authors decide the best way forward is to critique the human body itself from an objective designer’s point of view and see how it measures up i.e. is what we got the best that could have been done, given (presumptively) unlimited resources, and perfect knowledge (or omniscient, if you prefer!).

So the commentary begins at the top with hair, works its way down and through the various organs and parts, with some funny and some cringe-worthy asides, mixed in with some tenuous “facts” made in a somewhat plausible setting.

Once done with the body parts (160 pages or so of hair, eyes, nose, skull, down to legs and “fankles”), the authors look at infancy and dotage, then appraise the body’s physical performance attributes against e.g. the cheetah. Our socio-emotional attributes are put under the microscope, and we wrap up with a look at Women (given the bulk of the book is given from a male perspective).

What I Liked:
- It is a light-hearted easy read.
- It will drive creationists mad, when faced with teens who will use this book as a base for arguing – I’d love to be a fly on the wall for those chats!
- Entertaining for the most part, and has some gems in there.

What I Didn’t Like:
- It did come across as a little juvenile in parts, and some of the humour was akin to Viz magazine (a UK comic, which parodies the likes of the Beano and the Dandy)
- Some political views in there, which were unnecessary, and not in keeping with the topic.

Overall:
A good one to give to your thirteen-year old, as it will keep them amused. Hopefully it will encourage them to find out the real facts, and get better educated in this area. I found the book very easy to read, simple in outlook and in understanding, and would recommend it.


Acknowledgements:
Thanks to the authors and NetGalley, for giving me a free copy of the book in return for an honest and objective review.

Hilarious look at intelligent design

I loved this book. The authors dissect the human body to show how badly designed it was if there was a designer, and they do this in a hilarious way. The humor is juvenile and at times scatological, so the book might not be for everyone. But it offers a great look at the silliness of intelligent design from a biological viewpoint. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in biology.

This book was not what I expected. I did try to read it but I felt like it was written by 12 year old boys trying to see who could be the most colorful. I am sure there is an audience for it, just not me. Thank you for the opportunity to read this and provide feedback.

This book was packed full of facts. Whilst interesting many of the chapters followed a similar structure - reassuring initially but became a problem about half-way through. The book was also very focussed on males (which the authors recognise to their credit) which irritated me. Where females and males have literally the same body part and you are rating it then the score cannot be based only on the male experience. In a chapter called 'Nipples and Breasts the rating was based only on male nipples and breasts, which makes no sense whatsoever (and a score of 1/10 for bullies and 0/10 for others just bizarre).

Thanks to author/publisher for the ARC.

I had picked up the book thinking it was trivia facts in question and answer format. The book analyses the anatomy of the body piece by piece in detail. The authors have tried to explain the working of each part in a funny way.

While some of them were a little too much information for me (i stand by ignorance is a bliss), i think it wont bother others and young adults might like them.

This book was filled with obscure facts, which I loved. It was interesting to read some of the things that the author included, as the facts are random and don't seem to go together at all. This is definitely a book filled with useless trivia!